Individual authentication method for portable communication equipment and program product therefor
First Claim
1. An individual authenticating method for portable communication equipment including plural wireless communication functions, said individual authenticating method comprising:
- setting plural importance levels for said plural wireless communication functions provided on said portable communication equipment and setting plural authentication levels for fingerprint authentication in accordance with said plural importance levels;
judging, by a controlling means on said portable communication equipment, an importance level and an authentication level for fingerprint authentication of a wireless communication function selected by an individual on the portable communication equipment from said plural wireless communication functions;
selecting, by said controlling means on said portable communication equipment, one of a fingerprint authentication and both of the fingerprint authentication and a personal identification number authentication in accordance with the importance level judged by said controlling means; and
authenticating, by said controlling means on said portable communication equipment, said individual on a basis of authentication information input by the individual on said portable communications equipment in accordance with the authentication selected by said controlling means and in comparison with said authentication level for fingerprint authentication,wherein said portable communication equipment comprises one of a cellular phone and a personal digital assistant, andwherein said plural wireless communication functions comprise one of a telephone communication function, an electronic mail communication function and an electronic commerce transaction function.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In an individual authenticating method for portable communication equipment which comprises a fingerprint sensor, an operating portion for inputting a personal identification number and controller for authenticating on the basis of fingerprint information and/or the personal identification number thus achieved whether a person to be authenticated is the identical person, the authentication of the person to be authenticated is performed by using fingerprint authentication when the importance level is lower or by using both of fingerprint authentication and personal identification number authentication when the importance level is higher. For example, plural authentication levels are set for the fingerprint authentication in accordance with the importance level of each of the plural functions provided to the portable communication equipment.
25 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An individual authenticating method for portable communication equipment including plural wireless communication functions, said individual authenticating method comprising:
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setting plural importance levels for said plural wireless communication functions provided on said portable communication equipment and setting plural authentication levels for fingerprint authentication in accordance with said plural importance levels; judging, by a controlling means on said portable communication equipment, an importance level and an authentication level for fingerprint authentication of a wireless communication function selected by an individual on the portable communication equipment from said plural wireless communication functions; selecting, by said controlling means on said portable communication equipment, one of a fingerprint authentication and both of the fingerprint authentication and a personal identification number authentication in accordance with the importance level judged by said controlling means; and authenticating, by said controlling means on said portable communication equipment, said individual on a basis of authentication information input by the individual on said portable communications equipment in accordance with the authentication selected by said controlling means and in comparison with said authentication level for fingerprint authentication, wherein said portable communication equipment comprises one of a cellular phone and a personal digital assistant, and wherein said plural wireless communication functions comprise one of a telephone communication function, an electronic mail communication function and an electronic commerce transaction function. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A programmable storage medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus in portable communication equipment to perform operations supporting an individual authenticating method comprising:
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setting plural importance levels for each of a plurality of wireless communication functions provided on said portable communication equipment and setting plural authentication levels for fingerprint authentication in accordance with said importance levels; judging an importance level and an authentication level for fingerprint authentication of a wireless communication function selected by an individual on the portable communication equipment from said plural wireless communication functions for execution on the portable communication equipment; selecting one of a fingerprint authentication and both of said fingerprint authentication and a personal identification number authentication in accordance with the judged importance level; and authenticating an individual on a basis of authentication information input by the individual in accordance with the selected authentication in comparison with said authentication level for fingerprint authentication, wherein said portable communication equipment comprises one of a cellular phone and a personal digital assistant, and wherein said plural wireless communication functions comprise one of a telephone communication function, an electronic mail communication function and an electronic commerce transaction function. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A portable communications equipment including a system for authenticating an individual using the portable communications equipment, said system for authenticating comprising:
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a plurality of wireless communication functions executable on the portable communications equipment; a plurality of authentication modules to determine an identity of the individual using the portable communications equipment; a plurality of security levels, each of said plurality of security levels being associated with at least one of said plurality of authentication modules; a plurality of authentication levels for fingerprint authentication being associated with at least one of said plurality of security levels; a calculator to judge an importance level of a wireless communication function selected by an individual on the portable communication equipment from said plurality of wireless communication functions and to assign said wireless communication function to one of said plurality of security levels in accordance with the judged importance level; and an input section that receives authentication information associated with said at least one of said plurality of authentication modules, wherein upon the selection of said wireless communication function by the individual, the individual must input said authentication information associated with the security level assigned to the selected wireless communication function for comparison with an authentication level for fingerprint authentication associated with said assigned security level before the selected wireless communication function is executed on the portable communications equipment, and the portable communications equipment comprises one of a cellular phone and a personal digital assistant, and wherein said plural wireless communication functions comprise one of a telephone communication function, an electronic mail communication function and an electronic commerce transaction function. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An individual authenticating method for portable communication equipment including a plurality of wireless communication functions, said individual authenticating method comprising:
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judging, by a controlling means on said portable communication equipment, whether an authentication of a wireless communication function selected by an individual on the portable communication equipment from said plurality of wireless communication functions for execution on said portable communication equipment is necessary; judging, by said controlling means on said portable communication equipment, an importance level of the selected wireless communication function when the authentication of the selected function is necessary; selecting, by said controlling means on said portable communication equipment, one of a fingerprint authentication and both of the fingerprint authentication and a personal identification number authentication in accordance with the importance level judged by said controlling means; and authenticating, by said controlling means on said portable communication equipment, said individual on a basis of authentication information input by the individual on said portable communication equipment in accordance with the authentication selected by said controlling means, wherein said portable communication equipment comprises one of a cellular phone and a personal digital assistant, wherein plural authentication levels are set for the fingerprint authentication in accordance with an importance level of each of the plural wireless communication functions provided to said portable communication equipment, wherein the plural authentication levels are set by changing a number of fingers to be authenticated, and wherein said plural wireless communication functions comprise one of a telephone communication function, an electronic mail communication function and an electronic commerce transaction function, and a function that an authentication is unnecessary.
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Specification